NBC plans live streaming of entire Summer Olympics in London

The issue what NBC-TV shows live and what it shows on tape is one that unfurls every time the network presents an Olympics.

For the London Olympics, which start 100 days from last Wednesday, NBC Universal this time for the London Games decided to defang ahead of time some of the criticism it has received for the way it handles that issue.

NBC announced this week all 32 sports of the Summer Olympics will be streamed live at nbcolympics.com. It marks the first time every event and sport will be streamed live, which means it will offer more than 3,500 hours of programming, including the awarding of all 302 medals.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, NBC streamed 25 sports and 2,200 hours.

NBCOlympics.com was re-launched on Wednesday to mark the 100 days until the start of the London Games.

The network also announced that it plans to provide multiple concurrent streams for some sports, including gymnastics (each apparatus), track and field (each event) and tennis (five courts).

However, as the New York Times reported, NBC is still taking steps to protect its four-hour prime-time coverage, which pays a lot of the bills.

Key events in sports that get heavy emphasis in NBC’s prime-time coverage – gymnastics, swimming, diving, track and field and beach volleyball, for example – will be streamed live but won’t be archived on the web site until after the primetime presentation.

"The vast majority of events will be archived immediately," Cordell told the Times.

At the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, only hockey and curling were streamed live.

About Bob Wolfley

Bob Wolfley retired in October 2014 He wrote the SportsDay blog and column and about TV and radio issues.